The course is set and sponsors are stepping up for the Worcester Twilight Criterium that will be debut as part of the 53rd Longsjo Classic this year.

"We couldn't be more excited. It's Worcester, the second largest city in New England and we are hoping to see a huge turnout," said Alan Cote, race director of the Longsjo Classic.

Thousands are expected to line the downtown course as competitors race through the streets at 30 mph. Cote said a cycling festival will be held on Worcester Common, and announcers will be describing the race while music bounces off the buildings in the downtown area.

"The Worcester course is a classic criterium: flat, fast, a mix of wide streets and narrower corners. Perfect for either a sprinter or a breakaway to win," Cote said, adding it will be "fast and furious bike racing, a whirl of jersey colors as different teams work to the front of the pack to control the race."

The race is scheduled to start (and finish) on Front Street along the Worcester Common, turn right onto Church Street, cross Franklin Street and head down Salem Street past the Major Taylor Statue at the library, turn right on Myrtle Street, right on Southbridge Street onto Main Street, past City Hall and then right back on Front Street at the common.

Sidewalk construction on Front Street could force race organizers to start the race in front of City Hall.

"Either way, it's a great place to have the start/finish for a bike race. … It's a really good course," Cote said.

The Worcester crit will be held Saturday, June 28, the second event in the three-day Longsjo Classic. The Leominster Twilight Criterium kicks off the Longsjo on Friday, June 27. This event was held for the first time last year and was considered very successful. The Fitchburg Classic Criterium will be held Sunday, June 29.

The Longsjo Classic will be the final and featured event of a new series this season: New England Criterium Week. In addition to the Longsjo, crit week also includes the Keith Berger Memorial Criterium that takes place Sunday, June 22, and the Exeter Classic Criterium on Tuesday, June 24.

Cote said he was recently talking with pro racer Jake Hollenbach, who won the Exeter Classic last year, about the chance to compete in five races over eight days, capped off with the challenging Fitchburg crit.

New England crit week will be sponsored by Verge Sport, a cycling clothing company that specializes in custom products. Verge will sponsor a prize list for a team competition over the five crits. Cash prizes will be provided for top teams in the elite men and women divisions, and possibly the Masters men 40 division. The prizes have not been finalized but could range from $500 to $1,000.

The total prize money for the three-day event, in addition to the crit week prizes, is $18,100, according to Cote.

The Worcester Restaurant Group — which includes The Sole Proprietor, VIA Italian Table and One Eleven Chop House — is providing "significant" sponsorship for the Worcester race.

"This ensures that the race is going to happen. With the race coming into a new city, it's great to see a local sponsor step up and make the race happen," Cote said.

A major sponsor for the Worcester race could be announced soon, according to the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, which, along with Destination Worcester, has been very involved in bringing the Longsjo Classic to Worcester.

"The support from the business community has been extremely positive," said Christina Andreoli, vice president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. "I do believe a major sponsor will be signed on within the coming weeks."

"We want to make it a really great event that sticks around Worcester for a very long time," she said.

After cancellations in 2011 and 2012, the Longsjo Classic bounced back last year with two successful races in the Friday night crit in Leominster and the traditional race on Sunday in Fitchburg. Cote said the revival can be attributed to the Longsjo family.

Jason Longsjo, the nephew of Arthur Longsjo, for whom the event is named, formed the Arthur Longsjo Foundation last year after the event was canceled and took over management of the race.

"Leominster loved it and embraced it. Hopefully, the same will happen in Worcester," Jason Longsjo said. "Having the two days last year was great, but having nothing on that middle day left us wanting. We're excited to bring the race to Worcester and have a three-day weekend."

More than 300 racers are expected to compete in the Worcester crit, and more than 1,000 in total for the three days of the Longsjo.

Worcester has not hosted sanctioned bike racing since the Worcester Whirlwind races in the early 1980s. Cote, a junior racer at the time, competed in the race, which also took place downtown.

"I remember riding the Worcester Whirlwind race and all these years later, decades later, I'm bringing a race to downtown Worcester," Cote said.